Wednesday, May 21, 2014

What do they read in Singapore?

Since my other personality is a writer, lol, I have many friends in the writing business. Due to the Internet, I can now have friends all over the world, which is fantastic. I'm always curious about other cultures and their ways. How do I connect writing with art, since this is an art blog? Book covers have always been a fascination of mine, and when I was a romance writer in the past, my book covers were always painted by mysterious artists in New York, most of whom I never met. Some of the book covers I loved, and some I didn't. I had no control over the process.

Since the huge rise of self-publishing, I thought I'd talk to someone who is into this modern way of creating books and book covers. I did an interview with Eddy Kong an ebook publisher in Singapore. He has put out a bunch of books, and I really like his book covers. They are stylish and visually beautiful. Here is one from the book THE THIRD.

I asked Eddy some questions and this is what he said:

Eddy: I am a small-time publisher from Singapore during the night. During the day,

I am a full-time equity trader.

Maria: Tell me something about your work as a publisher and what makes you

love your job.

Eddy: In fact, I was a clickbank infopreneur selling some health & fitness ebooks,
but found that the revenue for my info products was not moving as fast as it could due to

overwhelming competition. I decided to become a publisher after transferring

some of my info products to sell on Amazon Kindle. I now see some decent results

without doing much work since 2011. I noticed I could earn more being a fiction

author and publisher representing other writers. Now I am publishing full-length novels

for them and myself.. I am still formulating a simple system to create, engage, and

connect with my readers/fans.

Maria: What are people's reading habits in Singapore?

Eddy: We are a reading nation due to the government campaigning to cultivate the reading habit. This is a good initiative. However, getting a Kindle tablet in Singapore is pretty tough as shipping overseas has to be done via a third party delivery
service. I hope that Amazon will be able to open up shipping more Kindles
to my country. This would increase the availability of reading material.

Maria: How are books bought there?

Eddy: We mostly buy our books from bookshops or borrow them from the local

library.

To answer some questions pertaining to the cover art.

Maria: How do you go about choosing a cover for one of your books?

Eddy: I collaborate with a book designer. I give her the book synopsis that tells her

what the story is about and the mood I try to create

Maria: I have here the cover of The Third by Zsu Hsia, and it is very elegant. What

makes you decide on the colors?

Eddy: I give the choice to my cover designer, I do not suggest the colors to her since
I trust her artistic sense.

Maria: Is it difficult to design the right cover? Even if you have a designer,you give

them guidelines.

Eddy: The designer just makes 2-3 drafts and I chose one that fits the book

synopsis the best..

Maria: Does the designer use real models for your covers?

Eddy: No, she doesn't. From stock photos she can put together a cover with

Photoshop or similar programs.

Maria: Are covers important for book sales?

Eddy: I find them rather important as first impressions do have an impact on my book

sales. People tend to buy more copies of the book if the cover intrigues them.

Maria: How do you use fonts, or choose the right ones?

Eddy: Again, I don't have to choose the fonts myself for the title or the author's name.

I just let the cover designer choose since she is more experienced. Since I'm

working full-time, I give her full freedom with the cover art designing process.

Maria: What are things you don't like about covers? What makes you pick out a

book from a shelf?

Eddy: I don't like covers that are too simple, with no matching color tones, and with

uninteresting fonts. I pick a book from a shelf based on its attractive cover art, and

I like embossed fonts for the title and author's name. I like to be able to see what

the book is about just by looking at the cover.

Maria: How do you deal with the back of the book cover?

Eddy: Since I don't publish in the traditional way yet, all my books are ebook editions.

But the back blurb is important on the cover of a paperback. A great book blurb

sells more books.

Maria: Any advice for artists about book design? What can they focus on to make

LEARN HOW TO ART JOURNAL + AWESOME MIXED MEDIA TUTORIAL

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About Me

Hello and welcome to my blog Greene Earth Originals where creativity is alive and inspiration flows. Visual arts of all kinds are my passion, but I have too many interests to count! I spent twenty years as a fiction writer, and I love making polymer clay mosaic art and various crafty things. I've also been a clairvoyant / medium for twenty years. Gardening is also a passion, which might sometimes show up in my art. I love painting and mixed media the most--an endless exploration.